Strip severing machines



June 2, 1964 A. A. SARGENT STRIP SEVERING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jan. 21 1963 INVENTOR ,fibzyezai,

y 75%,, 6' -r M ATTORNEYS June 2, 1964 A. A. SARGENT STRIP SEVERINGMACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 21, 1963 AZ&er2fl fiazyezzi, BYWay, 64 77/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,135,446 ST SEVERINGMACHINES Albert A. Sargent, (Grand Island, N.Y., assignor to MooreBusiness Forms, Inc., Niagara Falls, N.Y., a corporation of DelawareFiied .Ian. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 252,710 Claims. o]. ass-m0 This inventionrelates to web feeding and severing machines by which webs or strips ofpaper or similar material may be severed into units consisting of sheetsor units of predetermined length.

Machines of this general type have been produced and used before thistime, and have been variously denominated strip severing devices, sheetdetachers, sheet bursters, and other designations. Devices of thischaracter have been most commonly used in connection with feeding,

imprinting, separating, and collating manifold or record strips ofvarious kinds and have greatly facilitated the separation of such stripsor websusually in multifold assen1blies-into individual units, thestrips usually being severed along pre-formed transverse longitudinallyspaced lines of perforations. Examples of prior machines of this basictype are shown and described in United States Patent 2,513,093, grantedJune 27, 1950, to Louis F. Hageman, and United States Patent 2,778,424,granted January 22, 1957 to Louis F. Hageman and Carl R. Mabon.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a stripsevering machine which is constructed and operated under the same broadprinciples as those disclosed in the above mentioned patents, but whichembodies novel and improved features which increase the versatility ofthe device and among other improvements adapts the machine admirably tothe efficient and safe handling of paper strips and webs of tissue, orother light-weight papers, or of webs of ordinary weight but running athigher speeds than usual.

In the operation of the continuous forms detachers which are thesubjects of the above mentioned patents, feeding devices including a setof feeding and restraining rollers serves to feed the successive leadingedges of a strip beneath a breaker blade, and then up an inclined siideto a second set of rollers which are driven at a speed substantiallyfaster than'that of the first set of feed rollers. When the lead edge ofthe strip enters the bite of the high speed snatch rollers the strip ispulled taut against the restraint offered by the first set or sets offeed rollers and brought sharply up against a'severing blade, whereuponthe end form or sheet is severed, usually along a prepared line of crossperforations.

The mechanisms of these patents are quite effective for most purposeswhere cardboard or paper ofaverage weight is involved or whenexceptionally high speeds of operation are not demanded. However, thesearrangements require that the single set of high-speed pull or snatchrollers be adjusted so as to be spaced from the breaker blade atdistance approximately equal to the required form depth. For a threeinch form the high speed roller frame is positioned quite close to thebraker blade. For the very commonly used eleven inch form depth, the

high speed roller frame is moved away from the breaker preferredembodiment contemplates the provision, in-,

stead of the single set of high speed snatch rollers, of a bank ofseveral sets of high speed rollers positioned fairly close together withmeans for selectively adjusting the clearance between the upper andlower rollers of the sets "ice from relative positions affording a veryslight spacing, where the rollers are just out of contact, to positionswhere they are in positive feeding or pulling contact.

This arrangement has at least two advantageous results.

First, and possibly of lesser importance, the necessity for slidingadjustment of the pull or snatch rollers along the frame of the detachermay be of less frequent occurrence. If a short form is to be detached,one of the pairs of rollers nearer the detacher blade is set forpositive contact and the other pairs are adjusted for just-out-ofcontactarrangement, or in what is referred to in the industry as kissingcontact with the form strip or sheets. If a strip of longer forms isbeing run, the near sets of rollers are positioned just out of pullingcontact and one of the more remote pairs of rollers are brought intopositive contact.

Another and probably more significant and important advantage lies inthe guidance and protection of thin strips, or of any weight of paperunder extraordinarily high speeds of operation, which is afforded by theinvention. As mentioned above, the sets of rollers nearest the breakerblade are quite close to the latter, and in cases where the more remoterollers are in positive contact settings the intervening lengths of thestrips are supported and guided by the preceding rollers. These rollers,set for mere kissing contact, do not exert sumcient pressure to pull ortear the form strip, but only a slight feeding action and an efiectivesupporting and guiding action afforded by light frictional contact withthe strip. This establishes a definite guide whereby the possibility offlutter of the leading end of the web, or of the leading end flyingupward under the influence of air draft, is

eliminated. It also makes unnecessary the inclined guide platepreviously employed upon which the leading edge of the strip mightstumble or buckle.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from thefollowing specification when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which one embodiment of the invention is illustrated by wayof example.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in longitudinal verticalsection through a sheet detaching machine embodying the principles ofthe invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken online 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view in side elevation upon an enlarged scaleof the first unit of pull rolls in the bank of such rolls illustrated inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an end viewof the bank of pull rolls as viewed from theright-hand side of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional detail view taken substantially on line55 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 5A is a fragmentary view similar to the upper portion of FIGURE 5but showing the manually operated roll-lifting mechanism in shiftedposition;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view in vertical section showing analternative embodiment of the device wherein a double-coned or crownroller is used instead of the cutting blade shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side view of the doubleconed roller of FIGURE7.

For a more detailed disclosure of the basic framework and operatingmeans of this general type of detacher device, reference is made to thetwo patents mentioned above, but certain portions of the basic machinewill be recognized in the present drawings wherein the general frameworkof the machine is designated by the numeral 14 and the individual sideframes by 15. These side frames are rigidly connected by certaintransverse tie rods which are not shown in the present drawings.

The strip to be severed into individual components such as businessforms, is designated S and is led into the machine from a suitablesource of supply or from another operating unit over the curved stripguide member 171, the strip being guided and smoothed by means ofbristle brushes 72 or other suitable means. The strip may be leddirectly to the feeding or restraining rolls of the present machine ormore positively fed by a tractor pin device such as illustrated inPatent 2,778,424. At any rate, the strip S passes between the sets offeeding-in and restraining rolls indicated at F and F. The forward pairof feed rolls comprises the lower roll 17 and the upper roll 18 and themore advanced pair comprises the lower roll 19 and upper roll 20. Theshafts of the lower rolls 17 and 19 rotate in the side frames and eachcarries at one of its ends a gear such as suggested at 29 and 32, thesegears being operatively connected by an idler 31. On the opposite end ofthe shaft of roll 19 from the gear 29 is a driving sprocket (not shownbut coincidental with the gear 29) which is driven by a drive chain 60which also serves to drive other portions of the detacher and is itelfdriven by the sprocket 59 actuated by the electric motor 56 carried inthe lower portion of the frame 14.

The adjusting hand Wheels 27 serve to regulate the pressure of the upperfeed rolls 18 and to properly grip the strip S and feed it forwardlytoward the breaker portions of the machine. The bearings of the upperroll shafts are urged yieldingly toward their operative positions bymeans of the springs 26, the pressure being regulated by the adjustingwheels or handles 27.

As fully explained in Patent 2,513,093 the cooperating feed rolls areprovided with suitable facings to facilitate the gripping of the strips,the two lower feed rolls having continuous uninterrupted strip grippingsurfaces throughout. However, the strip gripping surfaces of the upperfeed rolls 18 and 20 are interrupted for non-registering circumferentialareas for purposes fully described in the patent referred to. Thus,there will always be a feeding and restraining grip on the strip by oneor the other, or both of the cooperating feed roll units.

Next in the line of travel of the strip S occurs the breaker or bursterblade 67 which extends transversely of the path of strip feed and iscarried in adjustably fixed position with respect to the frame. Theblade is of angular construction as fully described in the patentsmentioned so that the strip or web is brought against the angled bladewith a tearing action preferably effected along lines of transverseperforations in the strip. Bristle-brush guides as shown at 82 may beprovided to deflect the forward ends of the strips downward slightly asdisclosed in Patent 2,513,093, if desired.

In the devices disclosed in the patents mentioned above the fasterrunning snatch or pull rolls, of which there were provided only onepair, serve to draw the forward end of the strip S forward abruptly andbring the strip suddenly and forcibly against the severing blade 67 thuseffecting the separation of the leading unit or form. This pair ofsnatch or pull rolls was adjustable through quite a range on theframework for different sizes of severable units and in order to guide aleading edge of the strip to the bite of these pull rolls an inclinedguide plate or platform was provided. This proved quite adequate for thefeeding of strips of form material of average weight and at limitedspeeds of operation.

However, they were found not to be suitable for the handling ofextremely thin papers nor for running any weight of ordinary paperstrips at greatly increased speeds of operation. Thus, by means of thepresent invention there has been provided a bank of a plurality of pullrolls such as indicated generally at P in the drawings.

This bank of rolls is provided with a sub-frame which is mounted forsliding adjustment along the ledges 41 of the side frames 15 of the mainframe 14. The subframe 40 includes side frame members 42 upon each ofwhich are mounted the upwardly extending angle frames 43.

The means of support of the sub-frame 40 upon the main frame 14 alsoinclude the racks 45 as best shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, and a pinionshaft 46 extends across the pull roll sub-frame 40 and carries adjacentits opposite ends the pinions 47 and 48 which rest upon and mesh withthe racks 45. The shaft 46 extends beyond one of the side frames 42 andmay be provided with a hand wheel as suggested at 49. A split clampingblock 50 surrounds an end of the shaft 46, is fixed to one of the sideframes 42, and is provided with a threaded operating screw 51 whichcauses it to grip the shaft 46 tightly and hold it in an adjustedposition. This gripping means may be of any suitable type, for example,as suggested by the means illustrated in FIGURE 6 of the Patent2,778,424. When the gripping arrangement 50, 51 is loosened, the shaftmay be rotated by means of the hand wheel 49 and the pinions 47 and 48rolled down the racks 45 in order to effect a micro adjustment of theposition of the particular pull rolls selected for operativefunctioning.

The several pairs of pull rolls in the unit P are designated a, b, c, d,e, and g and they comprise in each case the lower roll sets 53 and theupper roll sets 54. Although within the purview of the present inventionvarious types of gripping and feeding rollers may be employed, it hasbeen found that those illustrated herein operate quite satisfactorily,each set of upper and lower rolls 53 and 54 comprising elongatedtransverse shafts 63 and 64 having their ends mounted in suitablebearing blocks 65 and 66, and carrying at intervals along their lengththe knurled rollers properly designated and 71, these rollers beingfixed at properly registering points along the shafts 63 and 64 as bymeans of the set screws 73.

As indicated at in FIGURES 1, 3 and 5 the bearings 65 and 66 are mountedin vertical slots formed in portions of the side frames 42, whichprovides ease of installation and removal of the lower bearings 65 andalso for the required vertical adjustment of the upper bearings 66 ofthe upper pull rolls 54.

The lower roll sets 53 are installed at the proper level with respect tothe cutting blade 67 and need not be subject to vertical adjustment.However, the upper roll sets 54 which bear downwardly upon the lowerrolls 53 to grip and pull the forward ends of the strip S are verticallyadjustable within the slots 75. Normally the upper bearing blocks 66 areurged downwardly, so that the upper rolls 54 serve to cooperate with thelower rolls 53 to grip the strip, by means of the coil springs 77 whichare seated between the bearing blocks 66 and the shoulder 78 on thevertical adjusting shaft 79, the upper end of the shaft being adjustablythreaded at 80 into a similarly threaded opening in the bottom flange ofthe upper framing 43.

The means for raising selected upper pull rolls 54 from operativepinching or gripping contact with the lower rolls 53 will now bedescribed. Adjacent each end of the roll shafts are the thin plate-likelifting elements 85, the lower portions being provided with squaredopenings adapted to receive the upper bearing blocks 66 and the upperportions having smaller squared openings 87 through which the eccentriclifting rock shaft 90 extends. Each shaft 90 is notched out as at 92along a chordal line which gives that portion of the shaft an eccentriccharacteristic, the upper margin of the opening 87 in the lifter elementbeing aligned with the notch 92 and resting within the notch, as shownin FIGURES 5 and 6, when the upper roller 54 is in operative contactwith the lower set of rollers 53.

The rock shaft is provided with the fixed collars 95 and 96 positionedjust inside of the lifting plates 85, the collar 95 having a handle 98fixed thereto whereby the shaft 90 may be rocked from the operativeposition shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 to the position shown in FIGURE 5Awhere the upper surface of the opening 87 in the lifting plate 85 restsupon the fully cylindrical portion of the shaft 90 and thus thebearings, roll shaft, and upper rolls 54 are raised from grippingcontact with the lower rolls 53 to the extent of the depth of the notch92 which will relieve the strip S from gripping or pulling seizure andmerely guide the strip through the series of pull rolls of likeadjustment with light frictional contact only and thus exerting asupporting and guiding action on thin papers rather than a pullingaction.

Of course, one of the sets of pull rolls a, b, c, d, e or g is adjustedfor gripping contact depending upon the length of the form or severableunit desired. For example, for the maximum length of form to be detachedfrom a thin paper strip or web S, the set of rolls g would be lowered bymanipulation of the appropriate handle 98 to form gripping contact withthe lower roll and all the other sets a, b, c, d, and e would beadjusted for only kissing contact for merely lending support to thesheet or web as it passes along to the ultimate pull roll set g. Ofcourse, for varying shorter lengths of form units to be severed anyselected one of the roll sets a, b, c, d, and e can be positioned forgripping contact and the remaining rolls exerting only a supporting andlight frictional forwarding function. Even for extremely short lengthsof severable units with the set of pull rolls a in gripping action therelieved sets b, c, d, e and g would serve as a guiding and frictionallyforwarding means for the severed sheets.

To aid in maintaining the forms in proper alignment during the passagethrough the bank P of roll banks, further guiding means are provided inthe form of the transversely spaced mating strips 100 and 101. The upperstrips 101 may have bent lead-in ends as shown at 102 in FIGURES 1 and 3and also downwardly bent delivery ends suggested at 103 in FIGURE 1.These guide strips 100 and 101 are secured to transverse supporting rods105 extending from one of the side frames 42 to the other.

Suitable means are provided for driving the upper and lower rolls 53 and54 of the pull roll series. Upon one of the roll shafts, for example,the lower roll shaft of the pair designated a there may be mounted asprocket 110 as indicated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings and just inwardlyof this sprocket can be pinned a gear 112 which meshes with a gear 113pinned to the shaft 64 of the corresponding upper roll set 54. Betweeneach of the sets of pull rolls a-g inclusive there are provided idlergears as indicated at 115 in FIGURE 4, these gears being mounted on stubshafts secured in one of the side frames 42. Thus the chain of drivingaction is carried along the pull roll installation P from one set to theother. The chain 60 of course as it leaves the sprocket carried by theshaft of the lower feed roll 19 may be led to the sprocket 110therefrom.

The amount of lift given the upper rolls and their gears is notsufiicient to draw the latter out of mesh with the corresponding lowerroll gears.

At the delivery end of the pull roll bank P the sheets may be dischargedupon any sort of delivery arrangement, such as might be afforded by thebelt conveyor designated D, this installation being supported in anysuitable way from the main pull roll frame 14 and including tapes 120trained around rollers such as shown at 121. Preferably the receivingend of the delivery frame D should be positioned adjacent the dischargeof the pull roll bank P and for this purpose the delivery unit D may besuspended from the shaft 46 of the unit 40 as by means of the brackets125.

An alternative means for bursting or severing the sheets from the web issuggested in FIGURES 7 and 8 of the drawings where a double-coned orcrown roller 167 is employed. This roller may be carried on a shaft 168mounted in the side frames immediately beyond the second set of feedrolls F and the strip or web S is brought into contact with the doubleconical surface of the roller 167 by the appropriately set pull rolls inthe 6 bank P, the tear being precipitated by the ridge 170 formed at thejunction of the bases of the two conical sections of the roller 167. Oneor more of the rollers 167 may be provided.

It is understood that various changes and modifications may be made inthe embodiments illustrated and described herein without departing fromthe scope of the invention as determined by the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sheet severing machine of the class described, combination; asupporting frame; at least one pair of cooperating strip feeding andrestraining rolls on the frame between which a strip is fed; means fordriving said rolls at a predetermined speed; a plurality of pairs ofcooperating pull rolls disposed serially on the frame beyond said firstnamed feeding and restraining rolls and between the rolls of whichsuccessive pairs the strip passes from said feeding and restrainingrolls; means for I driving all of said pull rolls at a speed greaterthan that of said feeding and restraining rolls; means for mounting thepull rolls of said respective pairs for relative movement betweenpositive gripping positions with respect to leading portions of a stripand separated non-gripping positions; and means for selectively,individually and independently adjusting at will the mountings of saidrolls of respective selected pairs of pull rolls to effect the positivegripping by such selected pairs of pull rolls spaced at differentrespective distances from said feeding and restraining rolls.

2. In a sheet severing machine of the class described, in combination: asupporting frame; at least one pair of cooperating strip feeding andrestraining rolls on the frame between which a strip is fed; means fordriving said rolls at a predetermined speed; a plurality of pairs ofcooperating pull rolls disposed serially on the frame beyond said firstnamed feeding and restraining rolls and between the rolls of whichsuccessive pairs the strip passes from said feeding and restrainingrolls; means for driving all of said pull rolls at a speed greater thanthat of said feeding and restraining rolls; means for mounting the pullrolls of said respective pairs forrelative movement between positivegripping positions with respect to leading portions of a strip, andpositions wherein said rolls are very slightly spaced apart; means forselectively, individually and independently adjusting at will themountings of said pull rolls of the selected pair to vary the bitesbetween said rolls between positive gripping position and said slightlyspaced-apart positions, whereby a selected pair of pull rolls grips thesheet at its proper distance from the feeding and restraining rollswhile the remaining pull rolls exert merely a slight frictional brushingsupporting contact with the strip.

3. The sheet severing machine as set forth in claim 2 in which the saidpairs of pull rolls are mounted as a unit on the frame and means areprovided for adjusting such unitary bank of pull rolls along said frameto effect further adjustment in accordance with the length of the sheetto be severed from the strip, in addition to the adjustment effected bythe selection of the pair of pull rolls which are to grip the strip.

4. The sheet severing machine as set forth in claim 2 in which saidpairs of pull rolls are mounted in a subframe supported upon saidmachine frame beyond said feeding and restraining rolls, the lower rollof each pair of pull rolls being rotatably mounted in a relatively fixedposition on the frame, the upper rolls of each pair having axial shafts,vertically depending lifter elements having their lower ends operativelyconnected with respective shafts, and manually operated means foractuating said lifter elements to selectively raise and lower said upperrolls from and to gripping contact with a strip passing between them andthe associated lower rolls.

5. The sheet severing machine as set forth in claim 4 in which saidlifter elements are provided with loops at their upper ends whichsurround the eccentric portion of a rock shaft rotatably mounted in theframe, handle elements on said rock shaft for rotating the shaft throughan angle to cause the eccentrically formed portions thereof to raisesaid lifter elements and thus the upper rolls of the pairs of pullrolls, and spring means for urging said upper roll shafts and theirrolls down into gripping contact With respect to the lower rolls, theupward urging of the lifter members being in opposition to the influenceof said spring means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. IN A SHEET SEVERING MACHINE OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED, COMBINATION: ASUPPORTING FRAME; AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF COOPERATING STRIP FEEDING ANDRESTRAINING ROLLS ON THE FRAME BETWEEN WHICH A STRIP IS FED; MEANS FORDRIVING SAID ROLLS AT A PREDETERMINED SPEED; A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OFCOOPERATING PULL ROLLS DISPOSED SERIALLY ON THE FRAME BEYOND SAID FIRSTNAMED FEEDING AND RESTRAINING ROLLS AND BETWEEN THE ROLLS OF WHICHSUCCESSIVE PAIRS THE STRIP PASSES FROM SAID FEEDING AND RESTRAININGROLLS; MEANS FOR DRIVING ALL OF SAID PULL ROLLS AT A SPEED GREATER THANTHAT OF SAID FEEDING AND RESTRAINING ROLLS; MEANS FOR MOUNTING THE PULLSROLLS OF SAID RESPECTIVE PAIRS FOR RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN POSITIVEGRIPPING POSITIONS WITH RESPECT TO LEADING PORTIONS OF A STRIP ANDSEPARATED NON-GRIPPING POSITIONS; AND MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY,INDIVIDUALLY AND INDEPENDENTLY ADJUSTING AT WILL THE MOUNTINGS OF SAIDROLLS OF RESPECTIVELY SELECTED PAIRS OF PULL ROLLS TO EFFECT THEPOSITIVE GRIPPING BY SUCH SELECTED PAIRS OF PULL ROLLS SPACED ATDIFFERENT RESPECTIVE DISTANCES FROM SAID FEEDING AND RESTRAINING ROLLS.